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Title: The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Hist Atlas)
ISBN: 0140513299
Author:
Chris Scarre
Publicate Date: 1995-09-01
Publish: 1995-09-01
List Price: $16.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $9.56
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $7.28
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.53
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Starting point.
This short book is an excellent introduction to Roman history. It is divided into easy to digest chapters which deal with a single theme.
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2: Good but should have been bigger.
The atlas is not that large. I bought four similar atlases all from Penguin and they are all thin books (< 150 pages) and small in size (10" x 7").
Atlases are supposed to be hugh.
However this (and the other 3 books) do contain loads of information.
The book skims over the Republican era. The first map at page 22 and by page 32 the Republic is over.
The book has only a few maps of the expansion of Rome within Italy (hardly a mention of the Samnites, or Sabines; and one small blip on the map for Sparticus)
It has a few maps of Asia Minor at this time. With Carthage and the Punic wars taking up most of these few pre-Empire maps.
Maybe 10 maps to cover 600 years.
We then have many maps to cover the next three hundred years.
Then the book ends abruptly. Shows Constantine's Empire and then quickly shows the Germanic kingdoms and the new Byzantine Empire. And it is over. No maps of Parthia or the neo Persian empires. No maps of the distribution of Germanic tribes outside of Roman areas.
I would have liked to have a bigger book with larger maps. Too many maps cover two pages, so the book binding obscures some information and making a scan of a map is very hard.
On the plus it has many other types of information (unfortunately sometimes repeated by the author in the start of a chapter and later in some specific article).
The types of info include the economy, currency (25 silver Denarius = 1 gold Aureus), the legions (names and numbers at different times), how mines work, the olive oil industry, and of course articles on emperors, politics and religion. A good dozen examples of city maps and a legion camp are shown.
On the whole a good reference and a good read on the history of Rome. But of course a real book with 1000+ pages is required to cover all aspects of the Roman empire. So this is a great companion atlas to that other book. I also got Penguin's Ancient & Medieval Histories (2xMcEvedy) and Ancient Civilizations (Haywood). Together all four give you the info to cover Rome very well.
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3: Not really an Atlas
I would like to second the comments of Jacques P. Talbot. I bought this book expecting an atlas, that is a book of maps. There are some maps in this book, but they are small and cluttered and I don't really find them useful. The book is mostly pictures and text. It reminds me of that Time-Life series, that is aimed at young people, although this book is not as good as any in that series. The publishers must have changed their mind about what they wanted to do with this book. They should not have put the word "Atlas" on this confused mess. It might be OK as an introduction for people about 14-16 years old, but if you want an atlas with useful maps in it, don't buy this.
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4: Excellent for the lay man
I think I found answers to all I've ever wanted to know about the Roman Empire. This book is certainly readable by anyone. If you don't like reading long texts, this book is perfect. If you do like longer texts, this book is also nice. The balance between pictures and texts is optimal in my opinion.
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5: Very helpful in studying history.
Good tool to assist in studying the history of Ancient Rome.
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